Just the Icing on the Cake

Yesterday I shared about our little Holiday getaway that Dave surprised me with and how, although I loved his romantic gesture, it was just the icing on the cake.

I was excited when Dave told me his first surprise -- that he bought me a massage (because I have been complaining of tension in back and neck for months and always saying that I was going to get a massage with money from Christmas and my birthday). I said "You are too good to me" and he responded by telling me the massage was just icing on the cake. What he meant was that he had also booked a night at Founder's Inn for a getaway and I was going to find out this surprise soon.

But, when I heard that, my thought was "yep, his romantic gestures are just icing on the cake"

You see, most days aren't romance....although I suppose they are a bit more romantice when you have only been married 5.5 months....even cooking together seems romantic early on! But even for newlyweds, most days are bills, chores, dinners, tv shows, work, sickness, movies, laundry, grocery shopping, etc. You want to be married to a good kind person who you respect and love and can be loyal to when life is rough and difficult - or just boring and typical.

It's easy to say "You are too good to me" when there's a surprise, flowers, nice dinner out. But Dave is just as good to me when he does the dishes, works hard to pay bills, offers to make his sick wife soup, chases my nephew around, picks something up from the store on the way home.  He is goot to me when he is patient with me and forgiving. He's good to me when he swallows his pride and apologizes and he's good to me when he carefully calls me out on my flaws and sin. He's good to me when he reads our morning devo or reaches for my hand in church or cooks Saturday breakfast.

I always hesitate to ONLY show the exciting moments of life on this blog (although I don't exactly take random tuesday night pics of us cleaning the apartment ha) - because I don't want to portray that this is always what life or marriage is like, atleast not for me. I thought that alongside the fun exciting moments it life, the boring moments are good too, although not as exciting. I enjoy the exciting moments and surprises - and Dave's romantic gestures sure make me FEEL loved, but I KNOW my husband loves me based on his actions on a random monday night. The rest is just icing on the cake :)

Along the lines of this post, check out this article on BORING MEN. I have been wanting to post it but don't have much to add to it -- I've only been married a short while so I don't have too many of these "boring" stories yet, but I do hope years from now, when its easy to lack appreciation for eachother, I respond the same way and remember that boring isn't always bad. The author states....

"Who am I willing to take the reeking garbage out for and clean out the gross muck ponding at the bottom of the fridge? Who am I willing to listen to instead of talk at? Who am I willing to hold as they grow older and realer? Who am I willing to die a bit more for every day? Who am I willing to make heart-boring years with? Who am I willing to let bore a hole into my heart?

...Life isn't not about one-upmanship -- it's about one-downmanship. It's about the heart-boring years of sacrifice and going lower and serving. It's not about how well you perform your proposal. It's about how well you let Christ perform your life."

Oh, I hope I have a boring marriage like that -- with the occasional icing on top!! Seriously, read her whole article, it will make you long to have a boring committed spouse like that and hopefully, it will make you long to be that type of spouse as well!